Points on both sides are valid. However, lest this erupt into anything
more than a friendly discussion I would like to remind everyone that one
of the best things about CASI is that it bridges any gap between the
amateur and professional, the chaser and the observer, the student, the
government, and private sector workers across the nation and indeed the
world.
Thank you.
Jesse Ferrell
President
--
==============================================================
Jesse Ferrell - Meteorologist/Web Dev. - j{at}weatherwatchers.org
Central Atlantic Storm Investigators - www.weatherwatchers.org
[attachment RE: Chasing in the SE]
--------------FAC7DE9FB8AD9B52B8DEBD00
Content-Type: message/rfc822
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Content-Disposition: inline
Received: from icx.net (icx.net [206.96.250.2]) by scire.pair.com (8.9.1/8.6.12) with ESMTP id AAA01208; Fri, 5 Mar 1999 00:10:44 -0500 (EST)
Received: from k5-133 (pm19x.icx.net [207.51.11.152])
by icx.net (IDG-2.7/1.3nr) with SMTP id AAA27123;
Fri, 5 Mar 1999 00:10:38 -0500 (EST)
Message-Id: <3.0.3.32.19990305000815.006d47dc{at}mailhub.icx.net>
X-Sender: ke4hsm{at}mailhub.icx.net
X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Light Version 3.0.3 (32)
Date: Fri, 05 Mar 1999 00:08:15 -0500
To: J <j{at}weatherwatchers.org>,
CASI Mailing List Recipients <casilist{at}weatherwatchers.org>
From: "Gregory S. Williams" <ke4hsm{at}icx.net>
Subject: Re: CASILIST : Va Chase 3.3.99
Cc: Wthark{at}aol.com
In-Reply-To: <36DE890E.DF8F1A6E{at}weatherwatchers.org>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>This was an educational and fun chase. Yes, chasing is possible in the SE. It
>is more difficult and probably more dangerous than chasing on the Plains, but
>it can be done.
>
I chased for a while here in E. Tennessee. I went from Crossville to
Tri-Cities going after storms, from KY Border to Cleveland. As far as this
area is concerned, it wasnt worth the risk.
I put myself in a couple of dangerous situations because of my infatuation
with tornadoes and lack of experience. Once I "punched the core" and about
got killed doing so. I chased for a little while thereafter, but all I got
was hail damage and sore from sitting in the car driving for hours on end.
I would still like to do it, but only around the midwest area, where the
terrain is more accomodating and the roads are less likely to throw you in
the path of an oncoming twister.
I finally wised up and decided to put my resources to better use by getting
on my HAM radio and directing local SKYWARN nets. It has been unanimously
agreed upon, by the NWS, area HAMs, and my wife, that I call SKYWARN nets
better than I do "participating" in one.
I STRONGLY deter anyone in the southeast from chasing. The terrain just
cannot accomodate chasing the way Kansas and other tornado alley states
can. I continue to hear it from our NWS Morristown liason how I got put in
the path of a wall cloud and didnt know it until he chewed me out for it
the next time we met.
It's got the thrill similar to bungee jumping, skydiving, or russian
roulette. But it's not for the Southeast along the Appalachians. Take a
SKYWARN class, know what you need to look for, watch video tapes and
participate from the safety of your home. You provide a better assessment
of the weather from a fixed position such as a home, where you know your
surroundings, know the roads, and know the structures in the area. That
serves a better benefit than saying "I see a twister in uhhh...where am I
at??? Just find me and see."
Of course I'm a little fececious as to the previous remark, but I've seen
(and heard) it happen. A fellow adventurer once told me he had a dark
cloud "to my left". Didnt know what road he was on, which direction he was
traveling, which direction the cloud was traveling, yaddayaddayadda. I
could have strangled him if I could have reached him.
I'm not trying to keep you (or anyone else) from chasing, but don't just go
out thinking it's going to be like Warren Faidley-ish or what you've seen
on all those documentaries. If youre lucky to come across one, you'd
better make damned sure you know how to take the right precautions and keep
from becoming a fatality. It's just not worth the risk.
Just MHO.
Greg
Gregory S. Williams
ke4hsm{at}icx.net
http://user.icx.net/~ke4hsm/index.html
http://user.icx.net/~ke4hsm/skywarn.html
http://user.icx.net/~ke4hsm/twiar.html
--------------FAC7DE9FB8AD9B52B8DEBD00
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; name="mailing-list-footer.txt"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Content-Disposition: inline; filename="mailing-list-footer.txt"
*************************************************
Central Atlantic Storm Investigators Mailing-List
To Post: casilist{at}weatherwatchers.org
To Cancel: lists-admin{at}weatherwatchers.org
Archive: /members/casilist
*************************************************
--------------FAC7DE9FB8AD9B52B8DEBD00--